Hold On
by Moofy-Fan
Summary: He's going batty, far worse than Simon ever was. They were dead, but he could still see them, hear them talking to him. Ralph's trying desperately to just hold on a little bit more, but he isn't sure if he will be able to last much longer.


Hello people. I had the urge to write something rather depressing, so you've all been warned. Quite a bit of inspiration for this was taken from the song Your Bones by Of Monsters and Men. I basically just listened to that song on repeat the entire time while writing this. I think it shows.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy, and please review.

Hold On

_I'm worried._

Simon's gentle voice was barely audible over the loud buzzing of jungle life, his green eye gleaming with concern.

_I don't think Jack and the others will leave him alone._ He added softly, cautiously glancing over at the boy he was speaking of as he did.

_Those savages?! Of course they won't leave him be! That Merridew won't stop until everything on this island with a bit of sense is gone!_

Piggy's words were much louder, clearly cutting through the rest of the background noise. There was still an obvious anger in the chubby boy about the most recent turn of events, huffing a bit as he carefully took off his glasses, and started to clean them, the conch nestled underneath his arm.

"Shut up!" Ralph barely managed to croak out, squeezing his eyes shut tight and pressing his hands up against his ears, trying anything he could to make those two disappear. Disappear and be gone like they were supposed to be! Even with his eyes shut, he could still imagine Simon's pitying stare and Piggy watching him with a mix of irritation and concern so clearly.

"Shut up, shut up!" he repeated in a whispered command. "Just leave me alone. You're both dead so leave me alone," he was practically pleading by this point, and thankfully once he opened his eyes again the two figures were gone, and he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Batty, he was going absolutely batty. Far worse than Simon had ever been. His hands were shaking as he slowly lowered them from his ears. Scratch that, his entire body was shaking, convulsing from the fear and disgust and insanity that were filling him to the brim.

The blond had no idea how long he'd been hidden in the undergrowth. It was quite dark now, but the sun had still been out when he ran away from Castle Rock. When Piggy had been killed. Piggy had been _killed_ so why could he still hear him?!

Ralph shook his head, taking a deep, shuddering breath in an attempt to calm himself down slightly. He was going batty. Crazy. Bonkers. But at least he was still sane enough to realize that, so he wasn't completely gone yet. He understood that Simon and Piggy weren't _really_ there, even though he could see them huddled off to the side of the pig trail, whispering in concern about the once chief.

Even though they weren't really there, he did agree with them. Jack wasn't going to leave him alone now. He couldn't even understand why that boy was so obsessed. He didn't have anything anymore! Piggy and Simon were gone (even if they hadn't quite left his mind yet) and Samneric had been captured as well. Everyone followed Jack. He had _all_ the power, so why couldn't he just leave Ralph alone?

The answer was obvious. It was because he was Jack Merridew, chapter chorister and head boy, who could even sing C sharp. Nothing was allowed to challenge that and get away with it. Ralph had tried to, had tried to keep the fire going, to keep him away from his precious hunting, and now he was going to pay for it.

The blonde forced himself to take another breath, pitifully fighting back the growing panic inside of him. He had to try to do something, anything. Figure out what Jack was going to do now so that he could make some sort of plan.

He had to have a plan.

Pushing himself unsteadily to his feet, he made sure to keep to the denser parts of the swaths of creepers to stay hidden. It was night, so the chances of anyone being out to see him were slim anyway, but he couldn't shake the paranoia that _something_ was going to happen.

Eventually the rocky fortress' silhouette appeared through the forest leaves against the night sky. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Simon, the young boy watching him intently, although Piggy was nowhere to be found. Maybe he didn't want to come back to the place where he died just yet?

Ralph turned irritably towards Simon. They were close enough to Castle Rock now that the blonde was able to just faintly hear the noises of those savages inside as they chanted and danced.

It was the first time he'd focused solely on Simon since he started appearing earlier that day. He half expected the boy to disappear if he did, but that wasn't the case. Instead he simply met Ralph's gaze, looking exactly the same as when he'd been alive, thankfully none of the wounds from that _awful_ dance there. Oh thank god he didn't show any of those wounds…

"I told you both to leave me alone! You're not real, so just go away!" he kept his voice low, not wanting to alert any of the hunters that he was there.

_It's dangerous here._

Simon's words echoed around in his head, and Ralph forced himself to scoff at them.

"I know that," he shot back, on the inside telling himself that he shouldn't be doing this. He needed to ignore him, because he wasn't real. He was going crazy and talking to his imaginary dead friends was only going to make it worse.

_Then why did you come?_

Simon asked, sounding genuinely curious. The older boy tried to wrack his mind for an answer to that simple question. Why did he come back here? Because he needed to find out what was going to happen. He already knew what Simon's next question would be if he said that though. Just how was he going to do that? Instead, he thought of something else.

"Sam n' Eric. They… the savages captured them. If I could find them maybe… I don't know, maybe they'll know what to do," he answered feebly. Simon didn't do anything for a few moments, before nodding softly.

_Be careful._

Those words echoed behind him as Ralph turned back towards Castle Rock. He knew he had to be careful. He knew everything that Simon could have possibly said, because it was just his own mind playing tricks on him.

Ralph kept low to the ground, his eyes scanning the rocks as he tried to think of some way to speak to Samneric. His breath hitched when he caught sight of something moving along the rocks, just barely calming again when he focused and realized who it was.

The twins were on watch. They had joined Jack's tribe. A horrible feeling of betrayal and confusion thudded down in his stomach at the sight. Now what was he supposed to do.

_They didn't join on purpose. They were forced to._

Simon's voice whispered in his head, but when he looked around he couldn't see the boy anywhere. Taking another breath, he started crawling up the rocks towards the twins, hoping that Simon was right and they wouldn't alert the others.

No, couldn't think like that. It wasn't really Simon, he didn't know anything. Simon was dead. Dead, dead, dead. Just like Piggy. Both gone forever.

"Psst, Samneric," he whispered, startling the two. They hadn't called out for anyone else though, instead urging Ralph to leave, to hide for his own good. The entire conversation was spoken in rushed whispers, everything going so fast that Ralph barely had any time to comprehend it.

Jack was going to hunt him tomorrow. He told the twins where he would hide, so they could keep him safe. A stick sharpened at both ends. The two pushing him away, giving him meat as someone came up to where they were. Ralph was already gone by then though, leaving the twins to whatever fate had decided for them now.

The blonde curled up in the undergrowth by Castle Rock, tearing into the meat brutally.

Only once he was finished eating did he noticed that both Simon and Piggy had appeared again, whispering to each other just low enough for Ralph to not be able to hear. Sleep was starting to grip at him now, and he tried to ignore the terrifying thought that this might be his last night.

Had Simon or Piggy ever thought that, before they died? Of course not, there hadn't been anything warning that something like that would happen to them. They were accidents; no one could have expected it.

As he drifted to sleep, the last thing he heard were the figments of Simon and Piggy speaking to each other, both horrifying and comforting at the same time.

_That blasted Jack Merridew. This is all his fault, him and his darn hunters._

_They aren't bad people; it's just that the beast-_

_The beast isn't the one making them hunt Ralph!_

_Yes it is, the beast inside of them is. _

_You're batty, young Simon…_

* * *

When Ralph awoke the next morning, he could hear some of the hunters outside of his hiding place, and he scurried back even farther. It didn't take long for him to figure out what was going on. They had forced one of the twins to give up his hiding place.

Once the boulders came rolling down the mountain towards him, Ralph couldn't help but be glad that Piggy wasn't there at the moment, even if it wasn't the real Piggy. They cut through the undergrowth surrounding him, but thankfully missed his hidden boy, clutching tightly to his spear in his fear.

Then the boulders stopped, the silence leaving Ralph uncertain once again. Maybe they would leave now. Something told him that was incredibly unlikely, but he couldn't help but hope all the same.

The crackling of fire and smoke were the next thing for the blond to notice, and he pressed himself as low as he could to the ground as he tried to sneak his way out of the brush past the hunters.

He broke free, but things started happening too fast. The hunters started crying out, signals that they had seen him, and he started to run. Desperately, trying to figure out what to do. What was he supposed to do? The flames were growing by the minute, hoping from tree to tree as they effortlessly spread through the forest.

_Those darn fools! They'll burn the whole island to the ground, and then what'll they do? How do they expect to survive then?!_

Piggy's voice cried in disbelief. Ralph hadn't noticed that he'd appeared again, but didn't spend any time focusing on him. He'd tried to hide again. Hide and let the hunters pass.

He could hear a savage by him now, and he didn't dare breath. Maybe it was Sam or Eric, and they would let him go. Don't panic. Don't let him see you.

The savage appeared in front of him, Roger staring down at the hidden boy, a spear sharpened at both ends in his hands.

Ralph burst out, spear out in front of him, breaking past the boy but losing the sharp stick in the process. The fire was everywhere now, smoke filling his lungs and making it nearly impossible to breath. Have to find a way out. Have to get away. Away from these hunters. Somewhere safe. Somewhere…

The blonde boy stumbled out of the dense growth and onto the beach. His footing slipped in the loose sand, sending him tumbling to the ground. He quickly tried to scramble back to his feet, the calling sound of the hunters loud, pounding in his ears higher than the crackling screams of the forest fire.

He wasn't able to get back to his feet, a few of the savages bursting out as well and pinning him to the ground. He wasn't able to tell who they were under the face paint, but for some reason that almost felt like a comfort. He could just tell it wasn't the twins, which was another comfort.

"Let me go! Let go of me!" he yelled, trying desperately to squirm out of their grasp, to no avail. More and more of the savages were starting to appear now, and soon enough Jack himself appeared, knife dangling from his hand. Roger was at his side with his spear sharp at both ends.

Jack's grip on the knife tightened as he made his way over to Ralph, face set into a serious grimace.

_No… this wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to get back…_

Simon's voice was quiet, sounding broken with despair, but Ralph could still hear it over the cries of the hunters' cheers. He could see both boys, long dead but still trapped in his mind, watching the scene amongst the others. Piggy looked both furious and terrified, his thick fingers white as he clutched the conch tightly to his chest. The conch that had shattered along with his skull.

Jack looked like he was about to speak, but before he was able to get a word out two of the boys started to rush towards Ralph. Sam and Eric, their bodies still free from war paint, which just made it easier to see all of the wounds. Ralph couldn't keep himself from grimacing as a few of the other hunters held the now hysterical boys back. They hadn't given up his hiding place easily.

_They're all going to die now. That fire wiped out everything. A few weeks, a month or so if they're lucky, but that doesn't matter. Those damn hunters, like a bunch of kids…_

Piggy said, and Ralph knew he was right. Nothing could live on this island anymore, not for long, anyway. The fire was still raging behind them, but all Ralph was able to focus on now was Jack standing over him, sharp knife clenched tightly in his hand.

Oh god, he was going to die. He was going to die just like Simon and Piggy and everyone else. No one was going to get rescued. It wasn't fair. He'd only wanted to get rescued.

He could hear Simon crying now, as well as the twins. Jack was glaring at him, looking like he wanted to say something, but uncertain as to what. His hand was raised, but he hesitated to thrust the knife down yet. Just like the first day, with that first pig. That had been so long ago. What had changed?

"Why do you hate me?" Ralph's voice came out as a whisper, repeating that same question he'd asked before. Before everything had gone so very wrong. Before Simon and Piggy had died. Jack's eyes set into a fierce glare, and he snarled angrily.

His hand shot down like lightning, red spilling everywhere.

Ralph never got an answer to his question.


End file.
